THE FIRST ERA (200 BCE - 0 BCE)

In the beginning, there were three major groups of Atlians on the continent of Athera:

The Purelakers made their homes in the west, around the life-giving waters of the Purelake. A generally peaceful people, these farmers and traders worshipped the great tree Kairos growing at the lake’s center.
In the east, a brutal nomadic people called the Vantians inhabited the deserts. These hundreds of small tribes were soon rallied under a mighty warlord, Karag Eastwind, who claimed the world belonged to them by divine right.
A mysterious order of arcanists called the Shen inhabited the southern forests and coastal islands of Athera, worshipping the goddess of balance, the Tainted Mother.

Amidst the basic religions of these three groups, a strange new sect began to manifest. These religious cultists worshipped Arkayos, the God of Chaos, who was said to control the thread of reality itself. The Arkayo railed against the supposed sins and missteps of the Atherans, and preached that Arkayos would soon manifest himself on Athera to destroy this “failed experiment.”

The First Summoning of Arkayos

Growing concerns over the rise of the Arkayo reached a breaking point when all three civilizations began to see an alarming string of kidnappings and disappearances amidst their people. It was said the Arkayo were searching for the “mortal conduit” for the manifestation of their god. A worldwide effort to track down and weed out the dangerous cult was soon launched.

But the Arkayo had grown substantially in numbers and influence; and on one fateful day, in the southeastern reaches of Athera, they found their vessel. The dark ritual that began that day was so devastating, that it began to tear the very land asunder, creating the Worldscar Ravine. The allied Atheran forces fought their way through the devastation, ultimately defeating the cultists before the ritual could be completed - but not before a good many lost their minds to the dark, chaotic magicks brought forth from the summoning.

The Construction of Drakonfell Prison

With the world safe from Arkayos for the time being, the Atherans continued to track down and arrest the dangerous cultists throughout the world. After much deliberation on what to do with them, it was decided that a grand prison would be constructed at the northern edge of the world to house Athera’s most dangerous criminals. A charter was drafted, designating that (no matter the political state of the world) each of the three civilizations would send a delegation to maintain and guard Drakonfell every seven years.

The Great Migration

The threat of the Arkayo had brought with it much destruction… but it also helped to spurn diplomacy between Athera’s early nations. As the Vantian Empire began to swallow up the lands of the east, the Purelakers realized their people would need to summarily expand throughout the west if they were to survive. And so it was that several groups struck out from the Purelake; one group of scientists founded the city of Devshire in the Galewind Forest, while another group of explorers headed northwest over the mountains, meeting the natives of the Timberlands. A third group of hunters headed east, and settled in the Dunsmoor Hills. The Purelaker merchants that stayed behind became known as Telarians.

THE CIRILIAN ERA (1 ACE - 250 ACE)

By the end of the First Era, the Vantians had claimed much of the east - including the Goldwatch Plateau and the small mining town of Cirilia upon it. The Shen feared that after this acquisition, the Empire would turn its sights on the Grey Isles...but were assured by the Vantians that they had neither the intent nor the resources to do so.

The Cirilian Gold Rush

The discovery of gold beneath Cirilia marked the beginning of a new era. Word of the fortunes buried beneath Goldwatch spread quickly, and soon people all across Athera were migrating to the small plateau to start new lives and dig for riches themselves. With the population soaring, Cirilia soon became a booming metropolis and major Atheran trade hub. The Vantians, relishing in their acquisition, quickly imposed a slew of taxes and tariffs to ensure their economic superiority in the region.

Emergence of the Valderkal

The excitement of the Cirilian Gold Rush sparked massive mining expeditions all across Athera. While mining deep into the heart of the largest peak in the eastern Snowglades, excavators came upon a massive tunnel inhabited by an underground race of dwarves. The Valderkal claimed to be an ancient order of paladins whose ancestors built the very land itself. Charged with its protection, the dwarves claimed they had constructed a massive underground tunnel system connecting every part of Atlas - but only the Valderkal were allowed access. To date, no other Atlian has discovered the location of these tunnels, nor the rumored dwarven metropolis at its center, Valderkal City.